Work with Nature, Not Against It

With more than the first hints of spring here in DC in the form of my childrens spring break holiday, daffodils and green shoots including weeds in my flower beds!  I am able to step off my busy professional schedule at IFC to read ‘The End of Poverty’ by Jeffrey Sachs, reflect and blog again. With the wonder of spring literally upon me (I need to get mulching later) I am moved to reflect on agriculture everywhere which is really a very delicate balancing act between nature and human intervention. There is no getting away from it Agriculture is man placing ‘order on nature’, man is manipulating the processes of nature to produce a raw material. A light touch is essential to ensure sustainability and I am a firm believer that farmers the world over can make the best environmentalists.

The processes of nature concerned are light (the biggest free input of energy in any agricultural system); the farmer (my hero)  uses great genetics, timing,  spatial arrangement to intercept light as well as water and nutrients as efficiently as possible to create a product. When one adds a little technology in the form of correct management and some hardware (irrigation, nutrients and IPM, weeding and erosion control) yields and margins can be boosted. The farmer is richer and we are fed and clothed.

During the last few months I have been privileged by my job at IFC to work on commercial investments involving appropriate technology in:

•    modern water efficient irrigation technologies for small farmers primarily in India and in Latin America which deliver scarce water and nutrients directly to plant rooting zones and

Contour planted citrus with drip irrigation hose in farm rehabilitation in Latin America

•    My job has taken me to  Central America and West Africa to visit a love of my life - for the past 20 years - the Oil Palm or African Palm. A palm which with the right treatment is by far the most productive  source of vegetable  oil on this hungry planet. This incredible plant produces up to 8 Tonnes of vegetable oil per hectare when it is properly maintained.

Young well weeded Palm (4-5 years) with ripening fruit and healthy foliage

The lesson here is that we have to work with nature not against it and use technology where it is cost effective and appropriate to get more out of every scarce Dollar / Hectare / Litre of water we have.